Received this evening an additional angle of the Queen of Hearts, this years Villains Series release from Alice in Wonderland.Who's Been Painting My Roses Red? (12") will be the 2008 Villains Series sculpture debuting in May 2008. Sculpted by Patrick Romandy-Simmons. Redemption period is May 15-October 31, 2008.
The Queen of Hearts is a character from the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by the mathematician, Lewis Carroll. She is a foul-tempered monarch, who is quick to decree death sentences at the slightest offense. Her most famous line, one which she repeats often, is "Off with their heads!"
When pleased, she can be quite pleasant, but can almost at once change to enraged. The Queen is voiced by Verna Felton. Verna was a popular actress at the Walt Disney Studios, lending her voice to several animated features including:
Dumbo (1941) as The Matriarch ElephantCinderella (1950) as the Fairy Godmother
Alice in Wonderland (1951) as the Queen of Hearts
Lady and the Tramp (1955) as Aunt Sarah
Sleeping Beauty (1959) as Flora
Goliath II (1960) as Eloise the Elephant
The Jungle Book (1967) as Winifred the Elephant
Coincidentally, she died on the evening of December 14, 1966, and Disney died the next morning. Both her first and her last voice acting roles for Disney were those of elephants, The Matriarch Elephant in Dumbo and Winifred the Elephant in The Jungle Book. Besides the two elephants, her warm character voice was versatile enough to voice two kind fairies (Fairy Godmother and Flora) and three villains (Matriarch, Queen of Hearts and Aunt Sarah).
May 15th can't come soon enough! (Not just because I'm tired of MN snow and ice, and really want Spring!)
ReplyDeleteThe additional angles on your website, Don, are fantastic (for the Queen of Hearts and Bacchus and Jacchus), and I can't wait to get these two pieces in my hot, little, grubby WDCC hands!
Spring is finally settling in here and with the rain the past few days, the grass is so green and lush. Pretty soon, will be time to break out the old lawnmower :)
ReplyDeleteBoth are amazing sculpts Tim! Patrick and Kent did a great job on both. Have the Queen on order and planning on Bacchus & Jacchus. I'm considering going back and doing the Centaurettes. I like how the 3 sculpts look together.
Verna Felton's picture sat on Sherman Potter's desk on the set of M*A*S*H as his wife Mildred. Harry Morgan worked with her on the "Pete and Gladys" show. I always thought that was a nice little personal tribute.
ReplyDeleteThanks for that added bit of trivia Babs! Wasn't a follower of M*A*S*H, wasn't aware of that.
ReplyDeleteWhen i saw 'Don't bother to knock' (one of the earliest movies of Marilyn Monroe) I instantly recognized the voice of an elder lady as that of the Fairy Godmother, queen of hearts, etc. It was nice to be able to put a face on that famous voice.
ReplyDelete